Body Behind the Rosebush
by lizgwitty
Summary: After finding a body in a quiet town's park, the team is led to a small high school with a large mystery hiding within the walls. Rated T for safety. First fic, so criticism wanted!
1. The Discovery

It was a hot summer day, the sun glaring down at a local park in Glendora, as a family of five jumped out of their minivan in excitement. Three children, all under ten years of age, ran over to the jungle gym, squealing with delight as they slid down the monstrous slide and flew on the gargantuan set of swings. It was a perfect day for them. All that mattered was the thrill of the play set; it was a world they could call their own, and a sanctuary nobody could infiltrate.

The mother and father, both with content smiles on their faces, sat on a blanket they just set down, watching their children enjoy themselves. It wasn't everyday the family could go somewhere together on a beautiful day like this, so the two immediately packed food and toys for a picnic.

"This is perfect," the mother whispered, nuzzling her head into her husband's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Meanwhile, the youngest child, a blonde-haired boy with beautiful green eyes, stepped into the sandbox that stood in between the playground and the massive baseball that was often used by the high school for games. He giggled softly as he made a small mound of sand, his "castle", with a miniature shovel and pail. From the corner of this eye, he noticed a black trash bag poking out from behind a rosebush. The curious boy dropped his toys and wandered over to the bag, noticing a faint stench that grew stronger as he drew closer to the bag. Something wasn't right about the smell; it had the scent of rot, but it wasn't the same smell as the trash cans at home.

He let his curiosity take over, and ignoring his fear, he opened the bag. Peering out of the black abyss was a skull, decomposed and gaping at the child. Its eye sockets stared at the blonde, the eyes replaced by maggots.

The boy screamed as he ran away from the skeleton, dropping the bag so the contents rolled out into the sun.

"The remains appear to be male," Doctor Temperance Brennan stated apathetically as she examined the bones, carefully lifting up the skull as to not destroy any evidence. "Caucasian… mid-teens…"

"Hey, Bones, would you mind hurrying up a bit?" Agent Booth asked quickly, his voice strained by his attempt to avoid breathing in the putrid air. The once peaceful park was now taken over by the FBI. The family of five was sitting on one of the park benches, cowering by the uncommon sight of a dead body in their own quiet city.

"I'm sorry, Booth, but you are going to have to be patient," Brennan said, not sounding apologetic at all.

"Then, I'm going to go somewhere else," the agent muttered. "The smell is killing me."

He walked up to the father of the family, noticing the fear in the man's eye. "So, would you mind telling me what happened here?"

"W-we were just going to have a picnic," the man stuttered, holding onto his youngest child protectively. "The kids were enjoying themselves, when Bryan started screaming. We ran up and found… that thing!"

Booth nodded and bent down to the green-eyed boy, who was trembling from shock. "You must be Bryan, right?"

The boy nodded slightly, too frightened to speak.

"Booth!" Dr. Brennan shouted out. "We're heading back to the lab."

"Look," the mother said quietly, grabbing Booth's attention before heading back to the truck, "this is a quiet city. Nothing ever happens here."

"Don't worry, ma'am," Booth mumbled comfortingly, "my team are specialists, and I promise you everything will be back to normal before you know it.

"So a little kid found the remains in a trash bag in his local park?" Angela Montenegro asked, sympathy oozing out of her words.

"Over by a rosebush while he was playing in the sandbox," Brennan added, her tone lacking any sympathy at all, as she swiped her ID to be admitted into the lab.

"Poor little guy. He must have been terrified."

"I need you to go through dental records to find identification for the remains," Brennan continued, handing the artist a folder that held information of the victim's teeth. "Maybe with those we can put a name to the victim."

After a look of skepticism towards her best friend's lack of compassion, the artist took the folder and walked into her office.

"Have we found cause of death?" Brennan asked the team as she took a look at the remains herself.

"No, not yet," Dr. Saroyan said softly, looking at the remaining flesh that hung loosely from the bone.

"By the looks of the decomposition," Hodgins muttered quietly, his eyes narrow as he focused on the skull, "and with the humid weather it sat in, the body was left in the trash bag for a few weeks before it was discovered."

"So we have an approximate time of death?" Wendell Bray, the young graduate student, asked.

"From late June to early July," Hodgins added, grabbing a single maggot from the left eye socket and placing it in a Petri dish.

"There seems to be several stab wounds in the chest by a blunt object," Dr. Brennan said as she pointed out eight small circular markings in the rotten flesh, "all having the same circumference."

"Could that be the cause of death?" asked the paranoid scientist.

"Nope," Saroyan said bluntly. "The worst those wounds could cause would be a couple broken ribs."

"Hey guys," Angela called as she walked up to the computer and started typing on the keyboard, "I found out who the victim was."

On the screen a face formed. A pair of grey eyes glared out at the team, sending chills down Angela's spine. The face had pale, clammy skin, and his hair was white-blonde, cut close to his scalp.

"His name was Charles Mason," the artist mumbled. "He was seventeen years old when he died, and according to his files, he would have been eighteen a week ago."


	2. My Baby

**Author's ramblings:** Hi there! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my fic. I apologize for the first chapter I posted. I'm new to fanfiction so it didn't come out the way it should have. Anyway, I'm glad you guys enjoy this story, and please rate and comment on ways to improve. Many thankies!

~Eleanor

**-X-**

"I don't understand why I am here?" stated a surly old woman, her hair grey from old age. Her face was weary, tired from what could have been fear and worry for her son. She sat nervously in the small chair across the table from Booth and Brennan in the interrogation room. "I promise you my son isn't a trouble-maker."

"Mrs. Mason," Booth mumbled, lacing his fingers together as he thought of the right words to say, "Did your son get in trouble often?"

"It was never his fault!" she almost screamed, impassioned and enraged. How dare this man take her in to ask questions about her son? "He would never hurt a fly!"

"I understand ma'am, but would you mind telling me why you sent a missing person's report for your son?"

Mrs. Mason calmed down immediately, her grey eyes glazed over, much like her son's. "He ran off," she said quietly. "He ran off again, and he didn't tell me where he went."

"I take it he's run away before, then?"

"At times, when he wasn't feeling well, he would run away. He would never be gone for long, though. Maybe a night or two he would be missing, and then he would return when he grew bored. But…" her eyes welled up with tears. "He was gone for a week. I grew worried. Nobody saw him at school, and he didn't go to the school's band practice."

"Mrs. Mason, we found a body in the local park," Booth said quietly, acknowledging the look of terror in her eyes. "We think it might be your son."

The woman paled slightly, her mouth gaped open as tears streamed down her face. "…My Charles? My baby is dead?"

"I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Mrs. Mason," Brennan interrupted. "Was there anyone who didn't get along with Charles?"

"Oh god… you think he was murdered?" she whispered. The two agents didn't have to answer; she already knew by the looks on their faces.

She grew red, anger building up inside her as she thought of every person who had done wrong to her baby son. "It must have been that Erin girl," she growled. "Erin Gonzalez… She hated my son over one little mistake. He didn't mean anything by it! He only wanted to be friends! He only wanted to be loved by someone like her!!!"

**-X-**

"He was in the high school marching band," Brennan mumbled to Booth, looking through Charles's file as the FBI agent drove through the quiet town. "He was enrolled in special ed classes because of his autism. I wonder why his mother didn't mention his disability."

"She seemed like one of those parents that didn't want to accept that anything was wrong with their children," Booth said, his eyes focused on the suburban road. "Did you notice the way she kept calling him her baby? And she denies the idea that her son would do anything to get in trouble, even when he runs away from her."

"But he must have done something to this Erin Gonzalez," the scientist stated as they pulled into a circular driveway to the high school. They noticed a block of students, all holding instruments, practicing a popular street march.

"Which is why we are going to ask her a few questions, okay, Bones?"

The two stepped out of their SUV and toward the band instructor that stood in front of a rank of trombones. Noticing the two, the bulky man walked away from the band to talk to Brennan and Booth.

"How can I help you two?" the instructor asked, his voice deep and powerful, as he held out his hand to shake.

"Are you Sam Steward?" Booth asked, taking his hand.

"The one and only," Steward chuckled.

"Actually, it's highly unlikely that you are the only man, or person, with the name Sam Steward, sir," Brennan chimed in.

"Mr. Steward, my name is agent Seeley Booth, and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan," the FBI agent introduced. "We would like to ask a couple of your students about Charles Mason."

Mr. Steward's smile dropped, his eyes solemn as he began to speak, "did he do it again?" he asked, not really talking to the two agents. He turned to the block of students, who all stopped playing to watch their teacher. "Erin!" he called out. "Step out of the block, please."

A girl of Hispanic descent stepped out from the center of the formation, holding onto a flute with care. Her hair was a midnight black, cropped into a boyish cut that didn't go past her ears. Her thin frame was covered by her black jacket and red skinny jeans. Her large, deep chocolate eyes were surrounded by a layer of grey eye shadow and black liner.

"Yes, Mr. Steward?" she asked timidly, holding onto her fragile instrument with care.

"This is agent Booth and Dr. Brennan. They want to talk to you about Charles."

The girl's eyes grew wide with fear at the name, but she nodded and followed the two away.

** -X-**

**Author's ramblings: **So, that's the end of the second chapter. Just so you know, I'm not going to focus on the complicated love relationship of Bones and Booth. I'm not one for love and romance XP. So there shall be little to no fluff in this fic. Also, I am really surprised that I started writing so much over this weekend, but understand for those who like my writing; most of my life revolves around school. Meaning… I probably won't upload so much when the weekdays start rolling in. I apologize for that. But enjoy what I have, and review to your heart's content! :D

~Eleanor


	3. Erin Gonzalez

**Author's ramblings: **Hi, guys! Third chapter is up and ready for you all to enjoy. Rate and review until your fingers burn off! (not really…that would be kind of gross)

~Eleanor

**-X-**

"So tell us, Erin," Agent Seeley Booth asked the ebony-haired teenager as they and Brennan sat down on a bench not too far away from where the marching band was rehearsing. "When was the last time you have seen Charles?"

She had an aura of fear and resentment that not even Bones could miss. She seemed to flinch at the sound of his name, as if the very resonance was a physical blow directed at her. There was no doubt about it; Erin truly hated the victim.

"I saw him last week," she mumbled, looking down to the floor. "Or rather, he saw me first."

"I take it you two didn't have a positive relationship," Brennan said, observing Erin shudder at the word "relationship".

"No," the girl said curtly. "I can't stand him."

"Would you mind explaining what happened to make you hate him so much?" the FBI agent asked softly. "Did he do anything to you?"

The girl, still holding her silver flute with care, looked up into Booth's eyes, desperation in her eyes. However, her face hardened before she asked, "Why are you asking me? What did he do?"

"We believe to have found his body in the park a couple blocks away," Brennan stated, showing no emotion.

"Oh, God," Erin whispered, turning toward the scientist, tears forming in her eyes. "Did… did he kill himself?"

"Actually, we think someone might have killed him," Booth mumbled, looking back into her eyes, "which is why we need to know what he did to you. Did he do anything to anyone else?"

The girl, after a moment's hesitation, finally nodded and whispered:

"…Charles Mason tried to rape me. It was at a carwash to raise money for the band. He… he asked me to strip for him, and when I said no, he tried to take off my shirt. I told Mr. Steward, my mom, my counselor, the dean, even the police officer that works here. He backed off for a month, but then he just kept following me, changing where he walks to class just to see me. He tried to talk to me, too. He said that he was sorry, he felt so guilty for what he did, but…"

"You couldn't forgive him," Booth said solemnly, completing Erin's sentence.

The girl nodded, and then continued. "Charles Mason wouldn't leave me alone, and then he started bothering my friends. I told my friends everything, agent Booth. They knew that there was something wrong with him. They knew he scares me, that I couldn't trust him. He would try to talk to us. Early this year, I got tired of it, and I told him to back off."

She hesitated.

"Later that day, during lunch, he tried to jump in front of a moving truck. His section leader tried to stop him, and Charles Mason almost punched him, but his leader called for help, and they took him to the dean's office. He didn't go to school for the rest of that week. I was called into the police officer's office, and she told me that the reason he tried to kill himself was because he realized all my pain if because of him, so he tried to kill himself so I wouldn't hurt anymore."

She chuckled softly, tears streaming down her face. "He didn't get it, though," she mumbled, her breathing ragged from resisting the urge to break down in front of the two professional FBI agents. "It would have only made me feel worse, agent Booth. I doubt I could possibly live with the guilt of being the reason someone died, even if they hurt me every day."

Booth nodded sympathetically, resting his hand on the fragile child's shoulder. "Erin, if you don't mind, I would like you to give me the names of your friend's he has had contact with, along with the name of his leader."

She nodded softly, staring at the disintegrating block. Band practice was over, and a group of students were gathering together, all looking her way and questioning what was going on. She pointed the group out.

"That group right there," she said softly. "There's Scott Lewis, Jane Chin, Kristi and Carrie Lee, Brandon White, and Tim Freud."

Her once raised finger sunk down to her side. "There's also Aria Dunham, but she is in show choir, not band. Charles Mason's section leader is Jim Castellanos. He was absent today."

"Thank you, Erin," Brennan said softly, trying to express sympathy towards the distressed teenager. "We'll be coming back to you if we need more answers."

**-X-**

As the two walked back to their SUV Bone's cell phone began to ring. She quickly took it out of her pocket and answered.

"Brennan," she said softly as she stepped into the passenger seat.

"We found cause of death," a static voice stated proudly.

"Who is it?" Booth asked his partner.

"It's Cam," she whispered in reply before talking back to Dr. Saroyan. "Was it one of the stab wounds found on the body's ribs?"

"No," Cam said back at the lab as she bent down to talk into the phone. "Actually, he was stabbed after he died. Wendell examined the remains and found that he suffered a large blow to the neck, breaking it and killing him before he hit the ground. The stab wounds were probably just to make sure he couldn't get back up."

She could hear the partners murmuring to one another, and then the phone was passed along to Booth.

"So, I take it we can rule out accidental homicide," the agent murmured gravely.

"Unfortunately," Dr. Saroyan mumbled, looking back at the rotten remains. "It's most definitely a murder."

"Great," Booth muttered, pressing the end button forcefully before grumbling to himself.

**-X-**

**Author's ramblings (continued): **Okay, so now that you have read this chapter, I should give you the reason why I am writing this .

My freshman year, I had a friend who had the same experience as Erin. She had a "Charles Mason" who sexually abused her, but he wasn't expelled because he has a mental disability. He went so far as tried to talk to her and her friends after every authority figure told him to not even LOOK at her. He even tried to kill himself to make HER feel better. Now, I love my friend to death, so the idea of her being hurt so badly pisses me off. But there's not much I can tell him, because nobody wants to be the blame of a suicide, or as this story calls for, a homicide. Now, some of the characters are based on our buddies, but after this chapter, things will get fictional. Realize the more I write, the less it will be based on our actual lives. You'll get me when I put up the next chapter.

Speaking of next chapter, I have to apologize, because now that school is here, I will be spending more time wasting my life on a lame book for English than actually writing what I want (those of you who favor Huckleberry Finn I apologize, but you don't have my English teacher .). But never fear! The weekend will come back again, and in between two research papers, a history essay, and band, I will write the next chapter, and I will post it next chance I get!!! *applause* so until then, rate and review.

~Eleanor


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